The Last of Us: Not Alone
by SPARTAN-G117
Summary: Daniel has been in Pittsburgh for a few weeks hunting the men who killed his best and only friend. That is until he decides to follow an old man and a young girl enter the city in the hopes of being Not Alone or will history repeat itself?
1. PROLOGUE

**PROLOGUE**

"Run Daniel."

I hate the infected.

"I'm right behind you."

"Shit, they're in front of us. This way."

As I crawled under the wreckage of what remained of a celling light a runner grabbed my leg.

"Get the fuck off me."

I kicked its skull in and kept running.

We were in a warehouse the with the only way out being a window near the roof.

"Come on, up here," Lachlan yelled as he started climbing scaffolding that filled the room, "Hurry!"

I started climbing after him with the fungus covered infected below clawing at my feet. We climbed the scaffolds to the window to see the concrete around ten metres below us.

"That's a long drop," I stated.

"No shit Sherlock," He replied, "Now how the fuck do we get down there?"

"There," I pointed at an open dumpster full of trash bags, "we jump."

"I guess there is no other choice."

We jumped into the pile of twenty year old trash that thankfully weren't full of sharps he climbed out as footsteps came running down the alleyway. They were too organised to be infected. And Pittsburgh is filled with hostile survivors who shoot anyone on sight.

Anyone.

"Stay there," he said as he closed the dumpster's lid plunging my world into darkness.

The footsteps came to a stop as a pistol shot sounded followed shortly by a thud.

"He's over here!" Some one of the hunters yelled followed by gunshots.

"Come at me you mother fuckers!" He shouted back.

He managed to hold on for what seemed an eternity as he was over whelmed by them. But he was only one man.

And one man can't fight forever.

"Get off you piece of shit."

"I'm going to make this very painful boy," a menacing voice said followed by a gunshot and Lachlan's cry of pain.

"Go to hell."

The hunter fired the gun twice. Followed by another cry of pain.

"I want the last thing for you to see to be my face."

One final shot fired and something fell to the ground.


	2. PART:1, CHAPTER:1

PART 1: SUMMER

 _Once upon a time, I had somebody that I cared about... It was a partner. Somebody I had to look after._

CHAPTER 1

It has been fourteen years since my friend and I were born into this world. A week since he was brutally tortured and murdered.

And I've hunting the men who killed him since.

I've been following an old man and a young girl, who seems around my age. She looks pretty. Green eyes, auburn hair. I don't know if I should show my face to them. They probably would kill me thinking I was a hostile but I will never know until that happens. I hate being alone.

They were moving.

I picked up my .30-06 rifle and my bag and followed from a distance using the cover of darkness to avoid detection. Even killed a hunter with my knife that my father who I never knew gave me.

Revenge is sweet.

Fucking bastards.

They've managed to repair one of the military's Humvees and strapped my friend's legless corpse to the bonnet. Now they are ruthlessly hunting the pair with it.

A light turns on as two of them walk out of a derelict bar. I shouldered my scoped rifle and lined up their heads and squeezed the trigger. They fell as one as the bullet passed through their skulls.

That's is why they fear me.

She dropped something.

I don't know what it is but I will try and pick it up and return it.

A firefly pendant splattered with blood?

It reads

Riley

Abel

000129

I need to know answers.


	3. CHAPTER 2

This view is nice. With the old overgrown houses and wrecked cars. I wonder what it was like before the outbreak. To live in one of those houses and drive one of those cars. I guess I will never know.

They are headed to the old military radio tower not far from here and if I'm right they will pass down this road.

Sure enough they dropped down onto the road, accompanied by two dark faces I haven't seen before, and started walking down it. That was until a sniper opened up on them with some hunters to back him up. He was in a house at the end of the street not too far from mine. I instinctively shouldered my rifle.

The old man started moving his way up to the sniper using cover and dealing with hunters with brutal efficiency. I saved his life a couple of times already but now I was killing hunters like no tomorrow.

He finally reached the sniper and took his post. As that fucking Humvee came down the road accompanied by hunters.

We made short work of the hunters when the gunner of the Humvee gave us an opportunity as he started throwing Molotovs at the girl and her dark coloured friends barely missing them.

I fired a shot barely missing him. I pulled back the bold, pushed it forward, locked it down and squeezed the trigger. I heard the click of the hammer.

"Shit," I cursed scouring my bag for any spare rounds.

"Shit, shit, shit!"

The crack of the old man's rifle and the screech of tyres alarmed me as I found one last round and loaded it.

Too late.

The Humvee was ablaze and hurtling towards a building on the opposite side of the road with its occupants jumping from it while being incinerated.

"Rest in peace friend," I said as I closed my eyes.

But victory was short lived.

The infected were coming for the trio on the ground. The girl watched as the dark pair were tackled to the ground. I aimed at the runner on the young one and prayed that the old man was doing the same for the other. I fired simultaneously with him and killed the infected as more started pouring out from the surrounding area.

I jumped the back fence and ran for the tower in the distance.


	4. CHAPTER 3

They are just inside. Talking about Harleys or something. I wouldn't know, I'm too young. Turns out that the old man's name is Joel and the girl's is Ellie. That just makes me more confused as why she has a firefly pendant that's not even hers. The young dark boy that I saved is Sam and his brother is Henry.

I moved around the building to where Sam was taking an inventory of how much food they collected.

"Well its safe to say those two have officially bonded," Ellie's voice sounded.

They talked about how their food situation was.

"How is it that you're never scared?" He asked leaning on a window.

"Who says that I'm not?"

"What are you scared of?"

"Let's see… Scorpions are pretty creepy. Um… being by myself. I'm scared of ending up alone."

They seemed like good friends. She even gave him a that his brother wouldn't allow him to keep.

He dropped it as she left.

"SAM!" I woke up to a feminine yell.

I un holstered my 9mm pistol.

"Shit," I heard Joel curse.

A gunshot fired as I jumped through the window Sam was leaning on the previous night.

"That's my fucking brother," Henry wailed.

"Screw it," Joel said to himself.

Another shot sounded and the screams stopped.

"Henry."

"This is all your fault."

"This is nobody's fault," the pistol went off again, "Henry!"

I pushed open the door as Henry's lifeless body fell to the ground next to his infected brother.

I looked up to see Ellie pointing her own pistol at my face.

"Who the fuck are you?" she practically yelled at me.

"Your goddam guardian angel," I practically yelled back, "whose saved all of you asses more than once."

"Ellie right," I quietened down, "I've been following you lot since you arrived in Pittsburgh. I helped you out yesterday with the Hunter's Humvee. Now could you please lower the gun."

"Why were you following us?" She asked.

"I'm afraid of being alone. And I was hoping that I could go with you."

"Joel?"

"Why should he?"

"Well," she paused for what seemed an eternity, he could help us."

"How, by putting a bullet in our brains."

"I would have killed you already if I wanted to," I jumped in.

"He does have a point, Joel."

"Fine," He finally agreed, "but give me your rifle."

I wasn't happy with passing over one of my most precious possessions to who was mostly a complete stranger but it was better than being alone.

"I'll grab my stuff."

I walked back to the window and found my bag where I left it in the under growth. I slung it over my shoulder and turned around to see Ellie there staring at me.

"I have something of yours."

"A firefly pendant right."

"Right," I replied as I slipped my hand in my pocket to grab the circular chunk of bloodied metal. "Who is Riley anyway? An old friend?"

"Something like that." She said as I handed it to her.

"Names Daniel. And I'm sorry I couldn't save Sam."


	5. PART:2, CHAPTER 4

PART: 2

 _There's a place here for you here, you know._

CHAPTER 4

The dark clouds loomed over head as we walked up a river in Jackson Country.

"You and Tommy...you're not together, so clearly something went down." Ellie asked Joel.

"We just had a bit of a disagreement, that's all.

"Oh, here we go...so what was it about?

"Tommy saw the world one way, I saw it the other.

"And that's why he joined the Fireflies?

"Yeah, your friend Marlene promised him hope. That kept him busy for  
awhile, but just like Tommy, he eventually quit that too.

"Who is Marlene?" I asked.

"She's the leader of the Fireflies," Ellie answered, "my surrogate mother. How was it, the last time you saw him?"

"I believe his last words to me were "I don't ever want to see your god damned face again."

"Geez. But he's gonna help us?"

"I suppose we're gonna find out."

"Do you guys think that some one out there is immune to this fungus?" I asked.

"I bet there will be someone." Ellie replied.

"Its a possibility," Joel commented, "but it is unlikely."

"Whoa what is that?" Ellie asked with enthusiasm, getting distracted.

"It's a hydro electric dam," Joel replied, "it turns the power of the river into electricity."

"And how does it do that?"

"Look, I know what it is but that doesn't mean I know how it does it."

We climbed part of the dam only to find no way across.

"Well how do we get across this," I asked, "I can't swim well."

"We make a bridge," Joel replied as he walked up to the circular handle and spun it.

"Well that gets us halfway across," Ellie stated as a metal platform rose out of the water.

"There is another one," I said pointing at the other valve on the other side of the river.

"And a pallet," Ellie barely finished as Joel dived into the water to retrieve the wooden platform.

He surfaced a few minutes later with the pallet seconds before. He swam over to the lower platform Ellie and I were standing on.

"Ellie I need you to," Joel started.

"I know step on the fucking pallet."

"Why cant I go," I asked, "I'm probably stronger than her.

"How can I trust you not to run away, Ellie come on."

I lent against the wall and waited as Joel pushed the pallet that was weighed down by Ellie to the other plat form and its handle. It took her a minute but she managed to raise the other platform from the dam's lower wall.

"Be careful on that."

"I will, come on Daniel."

"I'm coming."

"Teamwork," Ellie held her hand up as we reached the other side. Joel complied with her non verbal request, "Yeah, hey what's up."

"Nothing," I replied, "just hungry."

I jumped over the platform's railing and onto a dirt road that ran parallel to the river. We followed it for a few hundred meters when I saw two mounds. One with a teddy bear.

"That's too small of a grave," I pointed out.

"I forgot to leave that stupid robot on his grave," Ellie mentioned, "What should I do with  
it?"

"Ellie…" Joel grimaced.

"What? I want to talk about it."

"No."

"Why not?"

"How many times do we need to go over this? Things happen...and we move  
on."

"It's just-"

"That's enough."

"You're right. I'm sorry."

I paused and picked a handful of wild flowers growing near by and placed them on the child sized mound next to the ravaged teddy bear. He had a better grave than Lachlan ever would.

We continued down the dirt road for a few hundred metres until we reach the main entrance to the dam's complex.

"Now that is what we call a blocked road," I pointed out.

"Uh, should we head in?" Ellie asked.

"I guess there is no other choice."

Joel tried to open the gate to the complex.

"Don't even think about reaching for your weapon," a female voice sounded as I placed my hand on the pistol in my back pocket, "and tell them to drop theirs now."

"Do as the lady says," Joel looked at us with a surprisingly calm face.

Ellie and I raised our hands, complying with the survivors request.

"Please tell me you're lost."

"We didn't know the place was occupied," Joel explained, "We're just trying to make our way through."

"Through to where?"

Joel never got to answer as a male voice spoke, "They're alright. He's my goddam brother."

"Tommy."

"Holy shit," Tommy said as they hugged each other.

"How you doin', baby brother?"

"Goddam. You're fucking old."

"Easy, its going to happen to you one day."

"This is Maria," Tommy said as the woman stood by his side, "Be nice to her, she sorta runs the place."

"Ma'am, thanks for not blowing my head off."

"That would have been embarrassing, considering you are my brother in law."

"We got tangled up at one point," Tommy stated.

"What brings you guys through here," Maria asked.

"It's a long story," Ellie remarked.

"Why don't we bring em inside?" Tommy asked his wife.

"Yeah, you two hungry."

"Starving," Ellie and I replied in unison.


	6. CHAPTER 5

Tommy had taken Joel to oversee one of the dam's turbines while Maria took Ellie and I for some food.

"Mmmmm, soooo much better than squirrel," Ellie said with her mouth full.

"You're not wrong," I agreed.

It has been months since we had a decent sized meal that wasn't canned. Maria just looked at us and smiled and we kept eating.

"What it was like before?" I asked.

"Well," Maria recalled, "we didn't have to fight for survival. We lived with our families in powered houses and cars."

"Whoa, that sounds awesome," I just looked into Ellie's green eyes and chuckled at her remark.

"One fine example of the old world is your guardian," Maria looked at Ellie, "he had a daughter, Sarah, and those two spent every second with each other. It was a classic father-daughter relationship."

Maria then took out a photo of a twenty year younger Joel and Sarah, who was holding a trophy, celebrating and handed it to me.

"What happened to her?" I asked.

"She died on the morning after Joel's birthday, during the outbreak."

"How did she die?" Ellie and I asked at the same time. There were no smiles now.

"She was shot by a soldier and died in Joel's arms."

The room fell into silence as I passed the photo to Ellie who examined it toughly. Until a crack went of in the distance breaking the silence. I instinctively pulled out my 9mm.

"Bandits, come quickly," Maria said to us with a serious tone.

As she ran to a small office at the other end of the room I notice Ellie pocket the photo and glance at me.

"Go, I'm right behind you."

We reached the tiny room and locked the door with seconds to spare as hooded men charged inside with weapons drawn. One of them approached one of the windows to the office and glanced inside only to be shot by Maria.

"Kill em," one of them shouted.

I fired my pistol blindly and somehow earned a head shot on the one yelling. We held them off for a couple of minutes but some of them got close to the windows, within reaching distance of us.

Another two survivors burst into the room and killed of the remainder of the bandits.

"Maria!"

"Tommy!"

"You alright?"

"We're fine."

"Daniel," Ellie said nervously, "your head."

Only then did I notice the warm, sticky fluid flowing down my face.

"Shit, how bad is it?" I asked alarmed.

"You're lucky," Joel examined the would on my forehead, "only a graze. If it was a couple centimetres right it would have killed you."

"No shit."

"I'll grab some alcohol and a bandage," Ellie disappeared.

"Maria, I need to talk to you in private," Tommy told his wife.


	7. CHAPTER 6

We are in the main complex area just inside the main gate. Ellie is patching me up as Joel watches and Tommy and Maria are talking about something.

"Absolutely not. You go tell him to find someone else," Maria sounded angry.

"Maria, I can't have this hanging over my head."

"Do you have any idea how many men we lost today?"

Ellie stops bandaging and looks over at the argument.

"What's that all about?" She asked, "Does it have anything to do with me?"

Joel simply replied, "We'll talk about it later."

"Did Tommy tell you where the lab is?"

"We'll talk about it later."

"Right, later."

"Hang on," I joined the conversation," What lab?"

"Fireflies," Ellie resumed patching my wound, "and done."

"It takes one fuck up. One fuck up and I turn into one of those widows, ok."

"I have to do this."

"Fine," Maria stormed over to Joel, "You. If anything, anything happens to him at all, its on you."

Maria disappeared and I noticed that so had Ellie.

"Joel."

"Wait."

"I'll take that girl of yours to the fireflies," Tommy calmly walked over, "You don't have to worry about it."

"Joel!"

"I need to talk to Ellie."

"That's the problem Joel," I said with urgency, "she's gone."

Tommy's radio buzzed, "The girl just stole a horse and rode away."

"Dam it, which way?" Joel cursed as we ran to the gate where two horses were being prepped, "You stay here."

"I can ride."

"No, stay here."

"C'mon," Tommy said and I was left behind and alone.


	8. CHAPTER 7

"Bloody hell Joel," I said to my self, "She can't have gone far.

I hate waiting.

"You right there mate?" One of Maria's survivors asked me.

"I'm fine, just bored."

"Do you know how to use a bow?"

"No, why?"

"I could teach you."

"Ok."

The survivor, Lucas, taught me the basics of using a bow and he set up targets along a wall. I pulled back the string and let it go sending the loaded arrow flying into the target.

"Bullseye," I yelled, "fuck yeah."

"You're a natural," as Lucas said this the main gate opened ant Tommy ride in leading a second horse. I ran up to him.

"Where are they?"

"They left."

"Where?"

"They can tell you when the get back."

Frustrated, I walked back to Lucas.

"You should keep that bow," he said, "I have a spare somewhere."

"Thanks, do you know where Maria is."

"She's in her office."

I took the bow and slung it over my shoulder.

"You forgot something," he yelled and threw my back at me.

"Thanks again."

Maria's office wasn't hard to find. I just needed to get there before Tommy.

I knocked on the door and was relieved to see Maria open it.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Where is the Firefly's lab."

"Why?"

"I need to find Joel and Ellie. They are all I have left."

"You should find them at the science building in the University of Colorado. It looks like a giant mirror."

"Thank you so much."

"Now go before Tommy gets here."

I ran to where the horses were kept and jumped on one. Thankfully the gate was still open.

"Giddup," I said getting the horse into a gallop.

"He's stolen a horse." Someone yelled but I was too far away for them to do anything about it.

University of Colorado, Ellie, here I come.


	9. CHAPTER 8

It took me a while but I made it to the University. The place is desolate, full of infected, the only sign of there being fireflies are their markings on some of the walls. I had to be quiet, which wasn't hard considering the weeks I spent in Pittsburgh hiding from hunters.

But hunters don't Click.

There were so many of them. I'm so thankful that Lucas gave me one of his bows as it is quiet and relatively powerful. But I still prefer a rifle in general.

I found the science building only to find it abandoned, not to my surprise, so I tied the horse up and ventured inside.

Jesus Christ.

There is a trail of blood through the ground floor. There were plenty of bodies around, thankfully they weren't Ellie's or Joel's. But I had a bad feeling about that trail. I followed it and it led to a chunk of rebar, covered in blood, at one end and horse tracks at the other. It had to be Joel's or Ellie's.

I followed the tracks on my own horse hoping to catch up as snow started falling and I slipped on my thick, knee length coat.


	10. PART:3, CHAPTER 9

PART 3: WINTER

 _"I don't like company."_

 **CHAPTER 9**

The tracks led to a nearby mall and I could hear a horse inside a stripped out shop.

I found an open window that would normally be out of reach if I didn't use my horse as a step. It was dark and the room was empty bar an obvious horse shape and what looked like someone sleeping.

"Joel?" I walked cautiously towards the unmoving figure.

His state explained everything. The trail of blood, the bloody rebar, the dead bandits. At least he was breathing.

Where's Ellie?

That was the only thought on my mind.

Where's Ellie? Where's Ellie? Where's Ellie?

I had more immediate problems. My rifle was leaning against a wall next to Joel's pack.

"I hear a fucking horse in here," a bandit shouted as he started bashing the roller door.

"Keep an eye out," another said as I reunited with one of my few possessions, "I don't want to get ambushed."

I pulled the bolt back to see the magazine loaded. I pointed it at the door, fastened the bolt and waited.

I heard a crunch as something fell on the door.

"Shit, she's here," some one yelled as a gunfight ensued.

I just waited I couldn't open the door as it was locked on the other side and I couldn't go out the way I came. I could hear a distinctive click in the distance.

"Infected," a bandit yelled.

Eventually the gunshots and the yells faded as some one opened the lock on the door. I raised my rifle.

"Ellie!" I ran towards the slim figure in the doorway.

"Daniel?" She opened her arms and embraced each other, "I knew you would come."

"We can talk later but first we need to stitch up Joel."

"Already ahead of you," she pulled out a medical kit out of her backpack.

"Can you sew?"

"Sort of."

"Good, cause I can't."

"Do you have a bottle of alcohol on you?"

"Yeah, but only one." I tossed her my last bottle.

"Ok, Joel this is going to hurt."

She dipped the old needle and string in the alcohol, then she poured the contents on his wound. I twitched as Joel's in his semiconscious state moaned in pain.

"Put this in your bag," she threw her blood drenched summer shirt then started stitching the wound as Joel moaned again.

"I'll get my horse," I ran out the back to where I left it only to find it gone, "Bloody thieves."

I ran back to find that Ellie had finished stitching and prepping her horse, "Horse got stolen."

"Shit, I got Callus," She paused, "Can you tie Joel onto that sled."

I did as she asked and rolled him as gently as I could onto the sled that I must of missed in the darkness. He moaned in pain again as I tied him down not too tightly.

"Done."

"Lets get out of here," She said giving me a hand up onto her saddle.

"Agreed."


	11. CHAPTER 10

It was quiet riding with Ellie on Callus. The cold wind whipping our faces, the footsteps of the horse. It was an eerie feeling.

"There's a lodge there." I pointed over Ellie's shoulder at a silhouette in the distance.

"Looks good."

We reached the building's garage within a couple of minutes.

"Get this door open."

I was already off the horse and through the door before Ellie had finished. The place was stripped clean and empty, not unlike most other buildings. The garage was easy to find and the door's latch even more so. I had barely opened the door as Ellie led Callus inside who was pulling Joel along on his sled.

"Help me with him."

We started untying the nots holding Joel to his sled. Our hands touched when we reached for the last knot and our my eyes met hers.

Those beautiful green eyes.

"Ellie," I started with a nervous waver, "do you like me?"

"Who says I don't."

"I don't mean it like that. I mean do you like me more than friends."

"Daniel, before I met you there were three people I met that I cared about. First it was Riley, one day she came to visit me and we went to the nearby mall. We were dancing then runners showed up. We ran but we were both bitten. She said we could wait it out and die together but I lived. Then there was Tess, she was Joel's partner in crime. She got infected and sacrificed herself so Joel and I could escape. And you know about Sam, I still have that stupid robot," she looked down at the concrete floor, "I've been interested in you since we met in Pittsburgh. I'm just scared I'll loose you too."

I sat beside her and wrapped my arms around her, "You're not alone."


	12. CHAPTER 11

We decided that Ellie and I would take turns in hunting while the other guarded the incapacitated Joel. The resort we stumbled upon seemed abandoned but we didn't want to test it by lighting a fire. When she was around we told each other stories of our past to kill time.

"I noticed you following us in Pittsburgh," Ellie recalled, "you didn't seem dangerous, so I didn't tell Joel and instead dropped that pendant hoping you would return it, which you did."

She sat next to me and lent on my shoulder as I wrapped my arm and jacket around her.

"I barely knew my parents, mother died at birth and father left me when I was around six. This is all he left me." I examined my knife.

"That's harsh, but that's life I guess."

"Then there's Lachlan, he died a few weeks before you entered Pittsburgh, his last words were "Go to hell." to the hunter that killed him. The rifle was his."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that I own one thing that some one close to me used to."

"Not everyone."

"No, I hope I never will."

Within moments she fell asleep under my arm.

"Good night beautiful." I whispered as I kissed the top of her head and joined her soon after.


	13. CHAPTER 12

I woke up on top of a car surrounded by hundreds of clickers. With Lachlan, Sam and Ellie.

We fired round after round into the swarm only killing a few of them. One grabbed Lachlan's leg and pulled him away screaming. Then Sam suffered a similar fate. Only Ellie and I were left and we fought against the infection.

She was grabbed by the monsters and I tried to pull her back in vain. Her screams sending a chill down my spine.

"Ellie, No!", I yelled, "Come at me you mother fuckers." There was no surviving this.

Eventually a clicker grabbed my ankle and pulled me into the horde. I still fought against them. I fell next to Ellie's ravaged corpse only identifiable by the red she wore during the summer and closed my eyes as a one of those things bit at my jugular.

"Daniel, Daniel!"

I opened my eyes to see Ellie shaking me.

"Ellie," I said eyes tearing.

"Bad dream huh?" She asked as she hugged me.

"Yeah, you, Lachlan, Sam and I were on a car swarmed by clickers and we were picked off one by one until it was me and then I fell next to your mutilated body." My felt a tear roll down my face.

"It's ok, its only a dream."

"Promise me that you wont leave me like the other two."

"I promise." She hugged me tighter.

We sat there for awhile in each other's arms.

"Oh that's right, all this serious talk and I forgot about this." She pulled out two vials of liquid.

"Where did you get that?"

"I went on a hunt while you were sleeping and found them."

"How long have you been back?"

"Long enough to treat him," she pointed at the mattress that her guardian was lying on, "he should be alright in a day or two."

"That's good to hear."

"You could probably take that bandage off your head too."

I remembered how I almost got killed at Tommy's dam three months ago.

"Since you're the one who done it up I reckon you should be the one to take it off."

She untied the knot holding the bloody bandage to my head.

"Ow, that hurt." She peeled of the piece of cloth that had stuck it self to my head.

She giggled at my reaction. "That funny eh?"

"Maybe?" she replied with a grin on her face.

"I'll show you what's funny." I said as I picked her up and carried her over my shoulder, "What does the world look like upside down?"

"What do you think."

"The wrong way around?"

"No, it looks perfectly normal," she stated sarcastically, "but all my blood is rushing to my head."

I put her back down and kissed her, "I love you."

"I love you too." She replied after she kissed back.


	14. CHAPTER 13

Ellie is sleeping peacefully downstairs in the garage while I'm on guard up stairs. The lodge gives us a good view of the long, snow covered street . My rifle was slung over my shoulder and my arms under my armpits.

The road was quiet, until a group of armed men walked down it.

"Ellie," I half yelled running down the stairs, "We got company."

"Shit, they tracked me." She was already prepping Callus.

"They?"

"I met a couple of men when I went hunting. I traded a deer I killed for the penicillin."

"Ok, that explains a lot. Now how are we gonna get rid of them."

"They don't know that you and Joel are here so I'm going to distract them. Then come back."

She was about to leave as I grabbed her arm, "Promise me that you'll come back."

"I promise."

"Go, but if you're not back in two hours I'm going to look for you."

"Ok. Lets go Callus."

I watched as she rode Callus out with a quiet trot.

"I got her!" One of the men yelled as he grabbed her only fifty meters away. He can't have lasted long as I heard a male scream of pain.

"Kill her!" another yelled, "I don't give a shit about what David says."

She galloped of down the street as the men fired upon her.


	15. CHAPTER 14

What was taking her so long, she should have be back by now. I picked up my bag, my weapons and walked to the door.

"I'm gonna look for Ellie." I said to the unconscious Joel.

I left the lodge and into the freezing cold of winter. There were still a few of the hostile men in the area despite Ellie's efforts. They probably knew of her whereabouts.

Unless they had killed her.

I avoided contact by going around a row of lodges down the left side of the street. I eventually found Callus's tracks that led to a small drop where the tracks stopped and turned into a bloody trail. It led to the horse's dead body.

"Shit, Callus."

I dug around the corpse hoping not to find what I feared. I found footprints, too small to be a grown man's. I followed them around the frozen lakeside resort until they ended at the entrance to a large building.

"Shit."

"What was that?" I wasn't careful enough. Someone heard me and I wasn't in the mood to take chances.

I unsheathed my father's knife and climbed onto the entrance's snow covered roof. I waited for the man to investigate my curse. Sure enough he walked out side below me. I dropped on him and stabbed him multiple times, staining the white snow.

"Billy?" Another walked out, shotgun in hand, as I jumped the nearby railing. I wanted one alive, "oh, shit."

I sneaked behind him and put my knife's blood stained blade to his throat.

"You're coming with me. And you're going to answer all of my questions."

 **Hey guys**

 **I just finished the epilogue and all I need to do now is to proofread from here on to try and iron out any mistakes made and should be up in just over a week. I was planning on starting a sequel but its up to you. If you lot want one you'll get it.**

 **G117**


	16. CHAPTER 15

I took the man into a dark, abandoned room and tied him to a chair.

"Where's the girl?"

"What girl?"

I wiped the blood on my knife on his collar, "I think we both know the answer to that question."

"The girl, she's David's new pet."

"Where?" I pulled a map of the area that I found on him out of my pocket.

"I don't know."

"Wrong answer." I stabbed the him above the knee cap and used the knife to dislocate it, "Tell me where the fuck she is, or your other knee is next."

"She's in the butchers. In the town."

"Good to see some cooperation, now you are going to mark that on my map." I pulled the knife out of his knee, put it in his mouth and held the map to his face.

"No hard feelings." I said as I took back the knife and moved behind him.

"What the fuck man, I told..." He didn't get to finish as I slit his throat.


	17. CHAPTER 16

The butcher was only a five minute trek from the house I murdered the man. I was thankful that the weather decided to worsen as it made it easier to sneak past them and annoyed because it made it harder for me to see my destination.

The butcher's back door was open and I crept inside and saw a familiar pendant resting on a shelf.

"Riley's pendant? I must be getting close." I told myself as I pocketed the pendant for a second time in a year.

I ventured further inside and saw the most horrific thing I've ever seen.

They were cannibals.

Half a dozen gutted bodies were hung up like pigs ready to be cut up for the butcher. I nearly threw up at the sight of it.

I continued through the building to find more bodies dismembered and skinned. I smelled smoke outside as I left through the front of the butcher's shop.

"Ellie." I glanced to see the nearby restaurant was ablaze.

There was no getting through the doors as they were burning so I shoulder charged through the nearest window.

"Ellie!"

"Daniel?" I was glad to hear Joel's voice.

"Where is she!? Is she alright!?"

"She's here and she's fine."

I ran towards his voice to see him and Ellie, whose face was speckled with blood, embracing each other.

"Ellie," I held them like they were family, "you scared the shit out of me."

"H-he tried to-" She looked up into my eyes and glanced at a body with a blood covered machete embedded in its head.

"Shh, It's ok. I'm here. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere." I said as I brought her attention back to me.

I glanced one last time at the cannibal's ravaged corpse. Whatever he done, I bet he deserved it.


	18. PART 4, CHAPTER 17

**PART 4**

"After all we've been through...Everything that I've done, it can't be here for nothing."

 **CHAPTER 17**

The long and hard winter was finally over. They told me that in the University they found a recording that pointed them to St Mary's hospital in Salt Lake City, the Firefly's headquarters.

"Ellie," She was distracted by a deer emblem, "Did you hear me?" Joel brought her back to focus.

"No, what?"

"Hospital, were nearly there Kiddo. Ah that breeze. On a day like this I would sit on my porch and pluck my six string."

"What's a six string?" I asked.

"It's a guitar. I'll teach you both how to play one when this is all over with. Whadda ya say?"

"Huh? Yeah that sounds great." Ellie wasn't listening again.

We walked down the overgrown highway on the outskirts of the city when Ellie discovered an advertisement with a big plane on it.

"I had a dream about flying."

"Tell us about it."

"So, I'm on this big plane full of people. And every one is screaming and yelling 'cause the plane's going down. So, I walk to the cockpit, open the door, but there's no pilot. I try to use the controls but I have no clue how to fly a plane. And right before we crash, I wake up. I've never been on a plane. Isn't that weird."

"Well some dreams are weird." Joel remarked.

We walk down an off ramp to see a large concrete wall with a metal gate.

"Another city another abandoned Quarantine Zone."

"What a surprise." I said sarcastically.

Nearby there was an open building, like a hotel lobby, that we ventured into there was a break in the railing where a ladder was sticking out of reach. Ellie sat down on a bench as Joel moved up to the ladder.

"Ellie, Ellie!"

"What?"

"The ladder."

"Oh, right." Joel placed his hands together to form a step for Ellie to boost her up but once again she got distracted and ran off, "Oh my god, whoa."

"Ellie, wait."

"C'mon I'll get it." Joel boosted me up to drop the ladder so he could join us, "Ellie."

"Watch it." Joel said as the ladder fell at his feet.

"Sorry, wasn't looking." I ran after Ellie shouting her name.

"Come on, you gotta see this."

"What is it? I don't see anything."

"C'mon."

I eventually catch up to her to find her watching in awe as a wild giraffe fed on the overgrowth metres away.

"Don't scare it." Ellie said as I approached it.

"I won't," I replied as I reached out and stroked its long neck, "C'mon."

"Their so fucking cool." She joined me.

"What in the Sam Hill?" Joel reached us.

"Aw, where's he going? C'mon." Again she ran off this time holding my hand.

She lead us to the roof where we can see the remains of an old zoo and an entire herd of giraffes. Ellie lent on the concrete banister and I joined her with my arm over her.

"Wow, look at those things."

"Is it everything you hoped for?" Joel asked her.

"It's got its ups and downs." She replied, "but you can't deny the view though."

We watched the giraffes for a while, appreciating what survived the pandemic.

"We don't have to do this you know." Joel stated.

"What's the other option?" Ellie asked.

"We go back to Tommy's and just get it over and done with."

"That's right, I owe him a horse." I said to no one in particular.

"After all we've been through. Every thing that I've done. It can't be for nothing." She finished with her tiny characteristic nods.

"Well I ain't leaving without you two so lets go wrap this up."


	19. CHAPTER 18

We delved deeper into the city ever inching closer to the hospital the Fireflies supposedly called home. We came across a derelict bus depot filled with medical tents.

"Well this brings me back." Joel remembered.

"How so?" I asked.

"It was right after everything went down. I ended up in a triage just like this. Man, everywhere you looked, you just,saw families torn apart. The whole damn world seemed to have turned upside-down in a blink.:

"Was this after you lost Sarah." Ellie asked.

"Yeah, it was."

"I can't imagine what it would be like to lose some one you love like that. Losing everything. I'm sorry Joel."

"It's ok Ellie."

"Hey, Joel I got something for you." She pulled out the photo she stole from Maria half a year ago. "Maria showed this to me and I, uh, stole it. I hope you don't mind.

"Well, no matter how hard you try. You cant escape your past."

"Oh, Ellie, I almost forgot. Catch." I threw her Riley's pendant that I picked up the previous winter in the butcher's.

"Thanks." She kissed me on the cheek lightly.

"Is there something you two haven't told me about what happened in the winter?"

"Should we tell him?" I held her hand.

"Yeah, I think its time." She turned to Joel, "We, uh, we sorta got feelings for each other."

"Well, I guess that its not my job to say no." Ellie looked relieved at how Joel reacted to our interests in each other, "Just don't do the mushy stuff around me."

We laughed at this remark as we entered a flooded tunnel.


	20. CHAPTER 19

"Oh, shit." The tunnel was loaded with infected.

"Keep it quiet." Joel demanded.

"There's so many of them." Ellie stated despite Joel saying to be quiet.

A giant fungus covered, glowing infected splashed into view.

"Bloater." I pointed out as I pulled my bow of my shoulder.

"You'll just break your arrows."

"Well I can't shoot em can I."

"You throw stuff at them." Joel lit one of his homemade molotovs and threw it into the large crowd smashing on the ground. Clickers and Bloaters are blind and use a form of primitive echolocation to sense the world around them. The molotov smashing attracted them to the flames and they unknowingly walked into it and burned to death. Except the Bloater that was left charred as its fungal armour was burned off. "There, only one left."

"Now can I shoot it."

"Yeah, just stay away from it and use something powerful."

I pulled out the shotgun I stole of a cannibal during the winter

"Be careful." Ellie whispered.

"I will." it was hard trying to get around the bloater in the ankle deep water as each step if not placed carefully made a lot of noise. I was going good until I tripped on a chunk of submerged concrete and it's head snapped at me as I pointed the shotgun at it. It lumbered towards me until it was a few metres away when I fired the shotgun at its gut. It kept coming. I fired another two times and it fell at my feet.

"Fucking hell," I said as I fired one more round into its mutated face, "you're a tough bastard."

"Are you ok?" Ellie ran, arms open.

"I'm fine." I replied as we hugged.

"We need to move." Joel interrupted us.

"I'll lead I said." walking ahead.

We followed the tunnel further until it was blocked by a crashed fire truck.

"I see a ladder, Joel boost me up."

Joel got into his usual boosting position and I stepped on his hands as he lifted me onto the vehicle. As I was about to pick up the ladder a Stalker ambushed me. I put my left arm up to defend myself but I watched as it sunk its teeth into it.

"Ah," I grabbed my pistol with my free arm and shot it in the temple repeatedly, "You stupid mother fucker."

"You right?"

"Fuck no. Bastard bit me."

The screams of more infected were audible in the distance.

"We need to leave now." Joel said as he climbed the ladder.

"No, you need to leave."

"I'm not leaving without you." Ellie pleaded, her green eyes looking deep into mine.

"It's ok, Ellie. I love you. I love you more than anything. Now if you love me you would go." I pressed my knife into her palm and held her hand, "Memento. Now go, don't make this harder than it already is."

"C'mon Ellie."

She was in tears as Joel led her away and I turned my back on the last person I cared about, the one person I truly loved, and faced the members of the infection that was flowing through my veins.


	21. EPILOGUE

It took me a month but I retraced my steps back to the forests of Jackson country. I used my last bandage on my bite wound to hide it from the guards to the dam who might mistake me for a runner. The gate was near by but I haven't been here in half a year so I hid behind a tree to see if I recognized any one on the wall. An old man was pacing the area above the gate.

A man who I last saw on top of a fire truck in a tunnel full of infected.

"Joel." I yelled running towards the gate.

"What in Jesus." He looked like he saw a ghost, "Ellie, you might want to see this."

"What is it?" The girl asked as she looked down at me, "Daniel!? Can it actually be you!?"

"Yeah, its me."

"Holy shit. I'm coming down." She ran through the now open gate towards me, "I knew if there was anyone else it would be you." We embraced each other for the first time in what felt like forever.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm," She paused, "we're immune. That's why we went looking for the fireflies but Joel swore to me that the gave up."

It all made sense now.

"Now if you two are done with your reunion why don't you come inside where its safer."

"C'mon," Ellie said to me as she held my hand and led me into the complex, "Tommy will want to speak with you."

"Good to see you mate," Lucas spotted me, "whatcha do to ya arm?"

I wasn't sure if I knew what happened that fateful day in Salt Lake City so I said, "Came across a guy who favoured a machete. I'll tell ya about it later."

We walked towards the office building that Tommy and Maria used. Ellie holding my hand.

"I thought I lost you." She said as she stopped me just before the door and pulled me into a tight hug.

"So did I."

"I think this belongs to you." She placed the knife that I grew up with in my hand.

The door opened and Maria stood in the door way, "Well look who we have here."

"Hey Maria," I started, "Long time no see."

"Indeed."

"Is Tommy here?"

"Yeah, come in, he's here."

"I'll wait here."

Tommy and I conversed about what happened since I stole one of his horses six months earlier.

"And that leads me back here."

"Well that was an interesting story."

"Any open spots for me?"

"Sure, I think Joel and Ellie will be happy to have you after all you've been through."

"I'll ask em about it."

"Don't worry about the horse. I understand."

"Thank you." I said as I left his office.

"So how'd it go?" Ellie asked eagerly.

"Not bad, pretty great if Joel wouldn't mind me staying with you."

She smiled and hugged me. "I knew you would say that. And he wouldn't mind."

"So are you going to show me the place?"

"Yeah, lets go." We left the building and she led me to our new home.

My name is Daniel Malcom,

And I am no longer alone.


End file.
